Petri
Kuribayashi, later Petri, was a Japanese camera maker. History Early period Most sources say that the company was founded as Kuribayashi Seisakusho in 1907 by Kuribayashi Yōji (栗林庸二), manufacturing tripods and dark boxes. Baird, p.11, Lewis, p.184 and this page of the Japan Memory website. Its first camera was the Speed Reflex, supposedly released in 1919. Baird, pp.13 and 40–2. Lewis, p.36. However, a Petri catalogue dated August 1981 reportedly says that the company was founded in 1918 and that the Speed Reflex was introduced in 1922. See this page by Sumida Petri-dō. Thirties http://farm1.static.flickr.com/201/469721593_79311f49ce_t_d.jpg The company became Gōshi-gaisha Kuribayashi Shashin Kikai Seisakusho ( 栗林写真機械製作所) in 1930. Date: Baird, p.15. Baird gives Shashin instead of Shashin Kikai. From 1929 to the war many cameras made by the company were called First and advertised as "made by First Camera Works". These First cameras were distributed by Minagawa Shōten, and it seems that "First Camera Works" was nothing more than a name and logo forged by Minagawa for advertising purpose (see the discussion about the Camera Works endings). Baird, p.15, suggests that First Camera Works was a manufacturing company jointly owned by Kuribayashi and Minagawa, but it seems that no actual company had this name. (The "First Camera Works" name and logo were used again after the war for the First Six and Firstflex cameras made by Tokiwa Seiki and again distributed by Minagawa.) See the First Six and Firstflex leaflet reproduced in butkus.org's Orphan Camera website. The Kuribayashi company had an address in Adachi (Tokyo) in 1943. This address was Tōkyō-to Adachi-ku Ueda-machi 1807 (東京都足立区上田町1807). Source: . It is said that this was only the second factory, the offices and main building being in Shitaya (Tokyo), and that this Shitaya building was destroyed by an aerial bombing in 1945. Baird, p.28. }} Postwar period The company changed status in 1949 and became K.K. Kuribayashi Shashin Kikai Seisakusho ( 栗林写真機械製作所) in 1949. Transition visible between two advertisements dated 1949 reproduced in , p.178. Baird, p.30, omits the word "Kikai" by mistake. At that time the headquarters were in Chiyoda (Tokyo), and the plant in the Adachi factory mentioned above. The address of the office was Tōkyō-to Chiyoda-ku Kanda Nishiki-chō 3–16 (東京都千代田区神田錦町3の16). The plant was at the same place as before, but the address was now Tōkyō-to Adachi-ku Umejima-chō 1807 (東京都足立区梅島町1807). Source: advertisements dated 1949 reproduced in , p.178. The company did not renew its cooperation with Minagawa (owner of the name "First"). It had to look for another brand name and finally settled on Karoron and Petri. Kuribayashi made a range of 4.5×6 folders under these names and a single 6×6 TLR model called Petriflex. Its first 35mm camera was released in 1954 and its first 35mm SLR in 1959. The company became Kuribayashi Shashin Kōgyō K.K. (栗林写真工業 ) in 1956. Dates: Baird, p.32. In 1962, it took the name of its products and became Petri Camera K.K. (ペトリカメラ ). In 1968, it released the Petri Color 35, a very compact camera said to be inspired by the Rollei 35. Along with its line of 35mm rangefinder and SLR cameras, Petri also sold movie cameras and binoculars. The Fotochrome is usually identified as a Petri manufacture but in fact, there is little evidence for this. It's more likely that it was made by Copal as that company sued Harrison Fotochrome in the late sixties for payment for the manufacture of a camera in the mid-sixties. Fotochrome had refused to pay as the cameras were late (not timely) and mostly defective. There is no record of Fotochrome commissioning any other camera. Copal won the case in 1971 but by then, Fotochrome had filed for Chapter 11 protection. Petri Camera went bankrupt in 1977 or 1978. It was revived as Petri Kōgyō K.K. (ペトリ工業 ) but it abandoned camera production some time thereafter. It seems that the company still exists (2009) and makes telescopes. It is listed in this page, dated 1 June 2009, of the Japan Telescope Manufacturers Association. The company seems unrelated to the current Kuribayashi Seisakusho Co., Ltd. founded in 1944. See the chronology of the company's website. 35mm film cameras Rangefinder, fixed lens * Petri 35 * Petri Blue-Scope * Petri 2.8 Color Corrected Super (Also 1.9 model) * Petri E.Bn (2.8 and 1.9) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4118/4852565301_969409254f_t.jpg * Petri Prest * Petri 7 (2.8 and 1.8) * Touch * Petri 7s (2.8 and 1.8) * Petri Pro 7 * Petri 7s II * Petri Racer (2.8 and 1.8) * Petri Computor 35 * Petri Computor II * Petri ES Auto * Petri Auto Rapid 2.8 (45/2.8) Viewfinder, 24×36mm * Petri Color 35 * Petri Color 35 D * Petri Color 35 E * Petri Color 35 Custom * Petri Micro Compact * Petri PX-1 Viewfinder, 18×24mm * Petri Half * Petri Compact * Petri Compact E * Petri Half 7 SLR http://farm1.static.flickr.com/170/458003523_6c796266dc_t.jpg * Petri Flex * Petri Flex 7 * Petri Penta * Petri V VI * Petri V VI II * Petri FT http://farm1.static.flickr.com/231/457981692_9ab557801a_t_d.jpg * Petri flex * Petri FTX * Petri FT II * Petri FT EE * Petri FT 1000 * Petri TTL (also sold as the Focal TLR) * Petri FA-1 * Petri MF-1 * Petri MF-2 * Petri MF-3 * Petri GX-1 (From the post-1977 era, with Pentax K-mount lenses) 120 film cameras 4.5×6cm folder * Semi First * U Semi First * BB Semi First * Semi Rotte * BB Semi Rotte * Baby Semi First * BB Baby Semi First http://farm1.static.flickr.com/131/322091512_dd0b836d56_t.jpg * Auto Semi First (rangefinder) * Hokoku * Mizuho * Kuri * BB Kuri * Lo Ruby (unconfirmed) http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1331/1345623767_ac8f27e024_t.jpg * Petri * Karoron and Karoron S * Karoron RF and Petri RF * Petri Super and Petri Super V 6×6cm folder * First Six * U First Six 6×9cm folder * First Roll * First Center http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1295/706758355_57afed200f_t.jpg 6×6cm TLR * First Reflex * Petriflex 127 film cameras * Eagle (4×6.5cm folder) * Speed Pocket (4×6.5cm folder) * Baby First (3×4cm or 4×4cm, unknown) * Molby (3×4cm, uncoupled rangefinder) Plate film cameras * Speed Reflex (4.5×6cm, 6.5×9cm or 8×10.5cm SLR) * Mikuni (6.5×9cm folder) * First (6.5×9cm folder) * First Etui (6.5×9cm folder) * Kokka (6.5×9cm folder) * Romax (6.5×9cm folder, the attribution to Kuribayashi is unsure) * Tokiwa (6.5×9cm folder, the attribution to Kuribayashi is unsure) Notes Bibliography * * * * Links In English: * Petri user manuals at butkus.org's Orphan Cameras * Petri 7s, Petri ES Auto and Petri FT at The Camera Site http://www.thecamerasite.net * Tele Clars tele-converter by Kuribayashi at Nekosan's website In French: * Petri page at Collection G. Even's site * Cameras and User manuals at www.collection-appareils.fr In Japanese: * Petri and the Petri Research Club at Uyūdō * Camera stories 2: Petri (you must scroll the page down) at Japan Family Camera * Petri cameras at AEI Collectibles * 2ch Petri まとめサイト Category: Japanese camera makers Category: Japanese lens makers * Category: Japanese camera makers Category: Japanese lens makers *